LAFC Slides, Dallas Surges as MLS Playoff Race Tightens | OneFootball

Seven rounds remain in the 2026 MLS regular season, and the playoff picture is shifting fast. Coaching changes, individual form spikes, and a few collapses are rewriting the standings in both conferences.

Risers and Fallers

LAFC sits sixth in the West with 41 points, but the numbers tell a rougher story: just one win in their last ten league games. The club fired coach Marc Dos Santos as their counter-attacking system ran out of gas. Getting the ball to Denis Bouanga and Son Heung-Min in better positions is now the priority.

FC Dallas is having the opposite run. A 1-0 win over LAFC locked in second place in the West, three points behind leaders Vancouver. Petar Musa has 18 goals and 5 assists on the year, with Logan Farrington and Joaquín Valiente adding depth. Dallas is averaging 2.1 points per game over their recent stretch.

Seattle looked finished after a 13-match winless run, but back-to-back wins over Real Salt Lake and Minnesota United have put the Sounders back in the playoff conversation. Jordan Morris and Cristian Roldan are healthy again, and forward Dejan Joveljić is back in the lineup.

NYCFC's 2-2 draw with Atlanta United was their tenth game without a win in eleven tries. They're still ninth in the East on points, but the schedule ahead — Chicago Fire, Inter Miami, LAFC, Orlando City — makes staying in the top nine a real fight.

Players to Watch

San Jose's Oslen Judd has four goals in his last three games, including a brace against Portland, and now sits at 15 for the season. His finishing has San Jose pushing for a top-four spot in the West.

Philadelphia's Milan Iloski, reinstalled as a center forward under interim coach Ryan Richter, has nine goals in his last 12 appearances — including a hat-trick against Orlando City.

Chicago Fire defender Thapelo Mbokazi, 21, returned early from a break and immediately steadied the backline. His return coincided with a 1-0 win over Charlotte, ending a winless run.

Storylines Heading Into the Stretch

Seattle and San Jose's surges are squeezing the top of the Western Conference table. Real Salt Lake's 3-0 win over New England adds another team to a crowded fight for the final playoff spots and home-field advantage.

Vancouver, long the West's top team, has stalled since the World Cup break and since Sebastian Berhalter's absence. FC Dallas, St. Louis CITY and San Jose are all within realistic range of the conference lead.

Charlotte FC, Chicago Fire, Orlando City and New England Revolution make up a mid-table group stuck between form and inconsistency. Whether they have the depth to challenge favorites like Nashville SC, Philadelphia Union and Inter Miami in the postseason remains the open question.